Chasing Illusions
by Ari Gozen
Summary: Fuji has finally become a photographer, and because of this he meets Yukino Mirei, an aspiring model. He begins to fall in love with her, but there's only one problem: her heart has already been stolen from him. FujixOCxTezuka


"Excuse me, are you Fuji Syuusuke?"

The light-brown haired photographer turned towards the door of his office to face the source of the voice. He found a slender, raven-haired girl standing in the doorway.

"_Hai_, I'm Fuji. And who might you be?" he asked, keeping the same, slight smile on his face.

The girl smiled and bowed politely. "My name is Yukino Mirei. I'm the model you'll be working with for the next few months, or at least that's what the agency told me. It's nice to meet you."

"Saa, so you're Yukino-san. It's nice to meet you as well," he said, gesturing her into the office, "but I thought the photo shoot was supposed to be tomorrow. Or have they changed the schedule without telling me?"

Yukino shook her head, saying, "No, the shoot is still tomorrow. But I was on my way to an appointment when I passed by your office. I thought that it might be nice to get to meet you first, just to see what you were like."

As she came closer, Fuji was able to see the details of her face. Yukino was not as exquisitely beautiful as you would expect models to be, but she had a kind of simple, elegant grace about her.

She stared around in awe at the walls of Fuji's office, on which hung a number of pictures he had taken. "You must really love photography, Fuji-san. Your pictures are amazing. Have you been taking pictures your entire life?" she asked him.

"Actually, I was interested in photography even during my school years."

"Ah, is that so? But I guess that wasn't too long ago, am I right? You look very young," Yukino stated innocently, not meaning to try and flatter her new photographer. There would be enough chances to get on his good side. Then again, what the agency hadn't told her was that, under that smile of his, Fuji was a sadist. A pure sadist.

Fuji's soft laugh filled the room. "To be honest, you're right. I graduated from high school only last year. I'm pretty lucky to have this job, considering my age. But then again, you're also quite young to be a model, Yukino-san. You can't be any older than I am."

It was Yukino's turn to laugh. Her laugh sounded like a quiet wind chime, but it was to be expected from someone like her. "I also only just graduated last year. This is actually only my second modeling experience."

There was a moment of silence as she began to walk up to one picture, peering at it suspiciously. However, Yukino took a quick glance at her watch. "Wah! I'm going to be late! I'm sorry Fuji-san, I have to go now. But it was really nice getting to meet you!" she called back to him, rushing of the room.

He watched as Yukino disappeared, her long hair flying out behind her as she closed the door.

_Saa, what an interesting person. I look forward to working with her._

* * *

The next morning, Yukino came stumbling through the door of the studio, slightly out of breath. Apparently, she had run to get there.

"Sorry… I'm late," she apologized between gasps of air. "I lost track of the time this morning."

"You don't seem to be able to keep track of the time much at all, _ne_, Yukino-san?" Fuji said, smiling. Before, she had rushed out of his office. Today, she was ten minutes late for the photo shoot. "But it's alright. Just head over to the dressing room and get ready."

"Ah,_ hai_," she sighed, following his orders.

Half an hour later, Yukino emerged from the dressing room with her makeup and hair done, wearing a pair of grey jeans and a light blue tank top. It was a rather casual outfit for a photographing session, but apparently it suited Yukino very well.

"You look wonderful," Fuji commented with an approving smile of a photographer, truly meaning what he said. "So, shall we begin?"

The model nodded, quite eager to begin her work. The assignment she had been given was a simple magazine shoot, but it didn't matter so much to her. "Fuji-san, how exactly do you need me to pose for the pictures?" Yukino then asked as she stood in front of the blank background screen.

Fuji glanced up at her from his camera, which he had been preparing to aim at her. "Don't worry about that; just pose naturally," he reassured, bringing up the camera again. "I want these pictures to show _you,_ Yukino-san. Be yourself, or the pictures won't come out as nicely."

Yukino smiled gratefully. "You're not like other photographers, Fuji-san. I really am happy that you're my photographer."

Hearing those words, Fuji laughed and said, "Well, I'm glad that's what you think, Yukino-san. You're not exactly what I expected either."

He raised the camera as Yukino posed expertly against the background. The sound of clicks and compliments filled the room over the next couple hours or so as Fuji snapped different pictures of the model as she changed poses and expression, and even outfits. However, the entire time a soft, pleasant smile decorated her lips, accenting her striking grey eyes.

_She seems to be having fun_, Fuji thought to himself, envying her carefree nature. Yukino looked so happy, and apparently enjoyed her work as a model. Fuji loved being a photographer as well, but she seemed completely comfortable. That was because… her smile was natural. It wasn't an artificial smile that most models used to make themselves pretty. It was _her_ smile. And somehow… it enchanted him.

Finally, Fuji lowered his camera. "I think that's enough for today, Yukino-san. You can go change back into your normal clothes now."

Minutes passed as Yukino switched back to her regular clothes and did her best to wipe off the unnecessary makeup. She only needed it for modeling, not walking down the street.

"Ah, Fuji-san, you haven't left yet?"

The sudden words caused Fuji to look up from the photo album he was looking through. He was still sitting on one of the chairs in the back of the studio, waiting for Yukino. "Ah? I wasn't expecting you to finish so quickly."

"What's that you're looking at?" she asked, sitting down beside him. Her eyes wandered over the page of the album, fascinated by the pictures. "You took these, just like the ones in your office, right?"

"That's correct. This album's a bit old though; from my middle school years." Fuji turned to the next page, which contained a few pictures of people playing tennis.

_Wait, he said that this was from middle school… These must be pictures from a tennis practice. He was on the tennis team? Maybe…_

"But you should probably head home now. It's actually later than I had thought," said Fuji, closing the photo album and slipping it into his bag. "Come on; I'll walk with you outside."

* * *

Yukino followed her photographer down the hall towards the studio exit, the entire time reflecting on her day, and the friend she had made. _Fuji's very nice, and a good photographer. Ah, all those pictures he took! Hm… I wonder if he plays tennis._

"Yukino-san?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Fuji's voice, and a rush of cool air against her face. He was holding the door open for her, as well as wanted to say something.

"_Hai_?"

"I'm heading over to a café after this. Maybe you'd like to-"

He was cut off by a sudden exclamation of, "Mitsu-kun!"

The next moment, Fuji saw Yukino half-run, half-walk towards a man who looked vaguely familiar. No, not vaguely. Even after the past year, he looked almost exactly the same as when Fuji had last seen him.

"You didn't have to come meet me here, you know! I thought you were busy," he heard Yukino say to the newcomer.

The man shrugged. "It's alright. I was able to take a bit of time off of practice," he said to her, smiling slightly. His gaze averted suddenly from Yukino to the person standing behind her.

"Fuji?"

"Saa, it's been quite some time hasn't it, Tezuka? How have you been?" Fuji approached them, his hand raised in a casual greeting to his friend. They had not seen each other since they graduated high school.

"It's good to see you, Fuji. I see you were able to become a photographer, and for such a large agency, no less."

Fuji laughed, replying, "What about you? I hear you're on your way to becoming one of Japan's best national players. But," his eyes flicked towards Yukino, "why are you here?"

"I came to pick up Mirei-chan," Tezuka responded, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

_Mirei…Mirei? He called her by her first name. That means...  
_

"Ah! So I was right!" Yukino said happily. "Fuji-san, there was one picture in your office of tennis players, right? I could tell by their uniforms... and the fact that they were holding racquets. Anyway, Tezuka was in that picture, and so were you! You two went to school together, didn't you?"

"_Hai_, you're correct. That picture was of the regulars of Seishun Gakuen. It was our third year. It was a very interesting year, to be honest," Fuji said. "We made it to the nationals."

"That's amazing! So you're one of the friends that Mitsu-kun talks about so much," laughed Yukino, throwing a teasing glance at Tezuka, and then looked at her watch. "It's getting a bit late. Maybe we should be going, _ne_, Mitsu-kun?"

Just before the two were about to leave, Yukino turned around to face Fuji. "Today was really fun! I look forward to tomorrow, and we can go to the café then," she said, smiling. "_Ja ne_, Fuji-san."

Fuji watched as she left with Tezuka, her hand held in his, the smile on her face happier than before. His own smile faded from his face and his eyes opened to reveal startling blue.

Somehow, it was good to see his friend again, but for some reason the sight of her with Tezuka hurt. The way she said his name, the way she smiled at him...It was heartrending. He had only known her for a couple of days, so why did he feel this way?

This love he felt… it was probably just a lie… an illusion.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I had a sudden inspiration to write FujixOC fanfic, and then Tezuka just walked into the plotline. The plot is a bit weird, but I'm especially sorry for the length of this chapter! I just absolutely _had_ to put this first chapter up as soon as possible; for some reason it was driving me crazy! But then again I haven't exactly been diligent in updating _Torn Decisions_... I'll get to work on that next, then.

Anyway, please review! I love getting comments on my work, whether good or bad. And I take ideas!

Thanks for reading!~


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